


SAO One-Shot Collection

by lenerk01



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, No Smut, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, taking requests
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:28:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28786449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lenerk01/pseuds/lenerk01
Summary: Hey everyone. After 4 months of being away from writing stories, I've decided to try and get back into it again. I've created this work in order to get some practice in by writing one-shots. As the tags said, I will be taking requests from people. These stories can also be taken as potential "prologues" to future stories as well.Please don't be too hard on me with any reviews. It has been a while since I last wrote any kind of story.SAO fanfic community discord server - https://discord.gg/pfs8C3EXSh (Join now with plenty of other authors and readers who love SAO fanfictions)
Relationships: Eugeo & Alice Zuberg | Alice Synthesis Thirty, Eugeo & Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito, Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito & Alice Zuberg | Alice Synthesis Thirty, Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito & Everyone, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Yuuki Asuna | Asuna & Alice Zuberg | Alice Synthesis Thirty
Kudos: 7





	1. A Couple of Strange Customers

_Silent and empty._ Two words that you wouldn't want to use when describing your place of work, especially if that place of work is a cafe. Wiping down the already sparkling counter for what felt like the thousandth time that day, Agil sighed loudly. Business wasn't going well for the Dicey Cafe. Aside from the four or five times a week Kirito, Asuna and the others, his allies and close friends from his time trapped in the death game Sword Art Online, the place was dead.

"Well, looks like another early closing time for us again, huh?" he announced to the deserted cafe. Continuing to clean up, he quietly added "I would do anything to have just one person walk through that door just now."

_Ring._

Agil jolted slightly at the sudden noise of the bell at the door, alerting him to the presence of someone else entering the cafe. As if his prayers from a few seconds before had been answered, he looked up to see two people standing before him. A boy and a girl. They looked the same age as his most valued (and only) customers. ' _Won't be able to sell them any alcohol then I suppose_.' Agil thought to himself.

Whilst the girl seemed indifferent, and dare he say even cold toward him, the boy looked up at him shyly, fear evident in his bright emerald colored eyes. It didn't really surprise Agil that he was intimidated, as the man towered above everybody he came across. The girl however, intrigued him. The look of indifference on her face seemed forced, as if she was trying to put up some kind of front.

Nonetheless, Agil smiled widely greeting them cheerfully. "Hello you two, welcome to the Dicey Cafe. What can I get for you?" he asked.

Seeing the giant grin on his face appeared to calm the boy down a bit, bowing his head down and covering most of his face with his blond hair. The girl, whilst also having blond hair, had shimmering, ocean blue eyes compared to the boy's vibrant green ones. The girl nudged the boy on the arm to get his attention. As he looked up at her, she handed him something, before quickly turning and leaving the cafe, not even sparing Agil a second glance.

' _She seems to be wound up pretty tight. I wonder what her deal is?_ ' Agil wondered to himself getting lost in thought, being snapped out of it by the boy waving a hand slightly in front of his face. "U-uh, excuse me mister. Are you alright?" he asked, speaking for the first time since entering the cafe.

Quickly shaking his previous thoughts out of his head, he looked down at the boy and smiled again. "I'm fine." he replied quickly. "What can I do for you?"

The boy began fidgeting as he glanced over at the stack of cake slices that were out on display on a set of shelves next to the counter. "Um, could I get three slices of that different colored cake please, sir?" he asked, bowing his head down again.

"You don't need to be so formal, kid." Agil replied, picking up three slices of his wife's homemade rainbow cake and placing them inside a paper bag, handing it to the boy. "You can call me Agil. That'll be 700 yen for that."

The boy let out a small, nervous laugh as he handed over the money. "I was in here with my brothers a few days ago and the woman working here told me the same thing when I called her 'Miss'." he said.

Agil chuckled as well when he heard that. "That sounds just like her. That would have been my wife, Trish. She owns this place alongside me." he explained. Seeing the boy was now smiling, Agil was glad that the boy appeared to be a lot more relaxed in his presence.

They were interrupted by the bell ringing once again, the girl from before appearing in the doorway, this time carrying a wicker basket. "Come on, everyone's waiting for us, Eugeo." she said, walking back out again.

"Eugeo? Is that your name?" Agil asked after the girl had left. The boy nodded. "Is she always like this?"

"Who Alice? No, she's really nice, but can come across as a cold person when you first meet her." Eugeo explained. "We're going for a picnic with our families and she's upset that my brother's wanted cake from this cafe instead of her own homemade ones."

"Ah" Agil replied. "Well you should probably get going, you don't want to keep them waiting do you?"

"N-no, probably not." Eugeo answered, sheepishly. "It was nice to meet you si-I mean Agil! Thank you!"

"Likewise, Eugeo. And thank that Alice girl for me as well." Agil called out as Eugeo left the cafe.

Once he had gone, Agil started laughing to himself. ' _Alice and Eugeo huh? What a strange pair._ '


	2. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being a lot more depressing than I originally thought. I actually wrote this last August, and it's been saved on my computer since then.

_Alone._ That was him. Kirito the Beater. It was the life he chose for himself that day, as he dealt the deadly blow to the boss of the first floor. Gaining that last attack bonus, outing himself as one of the detested 'Beta Testers', he brought it all on himself.

It was better this way though. Right? It had to be. He spent all his life alone. Sure, his parents were there, his sister, but they never understood. No one did. Walking through the streets, seeing people being happy, cheerfully chatting away to each other as they sauntered past, not giving him a second glance.

He'd make it home from school, heding upstairs and locking himself away from the rest of the world in his room. His _sanctuary_. As the days, weeks, months, _years_ went by, nothing changed. He was still by himself. _Alone_. 

Video games were his life. Fantasy, Sci-Fi, RPG's. It didn't matter what it was, just as long as he could play it. It continued on, until there it was, what he had been waiting for. 

**_-The new VRMMO game created by Akihiko Kayaba. Sword Art Online. Closed Beta begins this Friday. Limited spaces available-_ **

Without missing a beat, he signed up. The reply came not long after. He had made it into the closed beta of this new game. He already had the necessary equipment needed in order to play the game, with the intention of purchasing it when it came out, so all he needed to do was wait a few more days to be one of the lucky few hundred to be able to play test such an incredible looking game.

That Friday couldn't have come fast enough for him, as he raced home and locked himself away once again as he always did, from his family and the rest of the world. There concern for his wellbeing didn't bother him at the time. He didn't care if it killed him, he was trying out this game.

To say it completely defied his already astronomical expectations of it, would be the biggest understatement ever made. _Beautiful_. It was the only word he could think of to describe it. Waterfalls shimmering and shining as the bright, blazing sun shone through, leaving small colorful rainbows to burst out the other side. The grass, an oversized soft green bed. In awe at the fact that technology could create something like this. So realistic. So _perfect_.

It was amazing, wonderful. His escape from a world that left him alone. He never wanted to leave. But all good things must come to an end, and so the closed beta for SAO ended, and he was forced back to his mundane, lonely life.

But then the day came, where he could escape back into that perfect world again. Ten thousand copies sold on release day. Ten thosand getting to see the beauty that he saw. But it wasn't to last. He didn't even have a chance to fully start enjoying his perfect world again, when they were all transported to the center of the starting town.

Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of SAO had trapped them all inside the game, with the challenge to beat the game. However, they had the added stipulation of it becoming a death game, meaning if they were to die within the game, the VR headset they were wearing would fry their brains, causing them all to die in the real world as well.

Some were screaming. Some were yelling. Some were crying. Kirito, however, found himself smiling, almost laughing out loud. This was it, exactly what he had always wanted. To be in a perfect world such as this, and never have to leave for anything.

Something caught his eye. A screen, showing a news report of the outside world reacting to what was happening to them all. The camera focused in on two people within a crowd standing outside a hospital. "Mom. Sugu." he heard himself saying, reaching a hand up toward the screen. They both stood their, clutching each other, sobbing uncontrollably as he watched on.

His smile was gone as quickly as it had arrived. They _cared_. Of course they did. He always knew that, deep down. Even when feeling at his lowest, they were always there to try and bring him back up. But he always brushed them off, always keeping them at arms length. He looked around, seeing the same expressions on everyone's face. He decided there, that he was going to help them. That he was going to get them all out of there.

He beat the first floor boss. It felt great, the first big step toward clearing the game and setting everyone free. The others were happy, cheering for him, but it didn't last. Before he knew it, someone had called him out as a beta tester, which was how he knew about the last hit bonuses and extra rewards. It split the group, as they all began arguing with each other.

This wasn't what he wanted. If they were going to escape, he needed everyone to be working well together. Something clicked, as he knew what he had to do. He declared himself the strongest person there, that everyone was beneath him. He had told them that they would all be better off cowering away and leaving him to clear the game by himself. He directed all of their hate toward each other at him. It was fine, as they were all together as a team again.

But he would have to be by himself, as they all hated him now. From that point, he would be the Black Swordsman, the only and best solo player in the game. It was better this way after all. Better for everyone around him. For everyone else to be together and free, he had to be alone.


	3. Phantom Thievery

"There has been no new sightings of the Moonlit Black Cats, the band of thieves that have been evading capture by the police for just over a year now, gathering plenty of high value art pieces and jewels along the way. It's been over two months since we last heard from them, leaving authorities to assume they have something major planned. They want to assure the people of Paris that the thieves will be caught and brought to justice, with all of the items that they have stolen being returned to their rightful places. In other news, the French national footb-"

The click of the remote sounded ten times louder as the television before them was switched off, leaving the small cramped room that they were huddled inside of to be almost completely shrouded in darkness. Sitting in a small circle surrounding a small candle, the only source of light in the dimly lit room. Five boys, one girl. The Moonlit Black Cats. One of the boys, Keita, stood up, gathering the attention of the rest of them. "As the leader of the Black Cats, I'd say we should all start thinking about our next play. Needs to be something major, as that report just now said, otherwise what was the point in us taking such an extended hiatus?" he said, looking down at each of them individually. "Anyone have any ideas?"

The rest sat in silence, faces creased in deep thought. "We could go to that new museum that just opened last week." Another of the boys piped up. "I heard that they have plenty of valuable items out on display including jewels, trinkets and lots of art pieces.

Keita smirked. "That's a good idea, Ducker." he said. "Do we have any others? Tetsuo? Sachi? Sasamaru? Kirito?"

"I have an adaptation of Ducker's plan." Kirito said, standing up and moving round the circle to stand next to Keita. He quickly continued, elaborating what he meant from the confused looks his comrades were giving him. There’s a new exhibit coming to that museum at the end of next week. Something called the ‘Hope Diamond.’ It’s supposedly worth over 68 billion (JPY).”

“Woah. If we managed to get a hold of that, our families will never have to work again in their lives!” Ducker exclaimed, bouncing around excitedly at Kirito’s revelation.

“It does sound like a great idea. We would never have to do one of these jobs again, and we can return home to Japan and give everyone a better life.” Keita mused. He turned to the other three, who had all stayed silent until that point. “What do you the three of you think?”

Sachi, who had always been quiet and timid, spoke up first. “I think we should take a lot of time to plan and prepare for this, because it will no doubt be heavily guarded, especially if it’s something that valuable.”

“Sachi’s right.” Tetsuo added. “We also need to be ready for any kind of tricks the police might be using. We’ve come this  far, it’d all be a waste if we failed and got caught now.”

“ Sasamaru , you’ve been unusually quiet during this meeting, do you have anything you want to add?” Keita asked.

“I’m against the idea of doing this. It might be too big a job, even for us. We can’t be getting too far ahead of ourselves, because it’s going to come back to bite us in the future.”  Sasamaru told them. “I just can’t shake the feeling that something is going to go terribly wrong if we go ahead with all this. But, if everyone else is wanting to do it, then I’ll join you.”

“That’s the spirit!” Keita cried out, clapping  Sasamaru on the back, almost knocking him over in the process. “We’ll take the time to scout out the area and figure out what we’re going to do. Today is Monday, and the Hope Diamond is  gonna be here by next Friday. I’m going to give us a deadline of three weeks from now to have that thing stolen, and be back in Japan.”

\----------

The sound of the sirens echoed throughout the whole city of Paris, as the alarms of five different art museums were set off at the same time. Kirito smirked as he saw all the cars shoot past him as he sat on the roof of the building across from his target.

The plan he had managed to come up with going well so far, with all the rest of the Black Cats setting off different alarms as distractions, to allow him to break in and claim their ultimate prize. He felt bad for the citizens of Paris, as they were all being kept up by the noise of the sirens and the alarms of the museums.

But he didn’t have time to dwell on that. They had bought him some time, but not a lot, so he had to move quickly if he was going to get this done. As the fastest and most agile member of the Black Cats, he was the one tasked with retrieving the Hope Diamond, as he was always quick enough to be in and out before anyone even knew anything about what had just happened.

He had spent the last two weeks gathering as much information as he could, preparing as much as possible. However, as the day of the job got closer, he couldn’t shake the bad feeling he was getting in the pit of his stomach. He blamed it on nerves, as this was going to be possibly the most dangerous thing he had ever done, and ever will do.

“Alright, you got this, Kirito. In and out, just like we all planned.” he said to himself, cautiously making his way over to the museum’s roof, using the various trees that surrounded the area to keep himself above ground and out of sight.

After just a few minutes, he had reached his entry point, a skylight that sat directly above the Hope Diamond. Spotting it through the skylight, Kirito got to work. A few days before, Keita and  Sasamaru had posed as electrician’s and had gained access to the roof, turning off the security alarms and unlocking the skylight for him to be able to open it and slip through to the scaffolding underneath.

He was about to repel down using the cable he had brought with him, when a strange sight caught his eye. A single guard, doing his rounds, torch shining brightly and lighting up various areas of the dimly lit room, with the only other source of light being the moon that shone in through the skylight he had entered from.

A moment later, the guard continued on his way, leaving the room below empty and giving Kirito window of opportunity he needed. Making extra sure the thick cable was tied tightly around both himself and the scaffolding, he made his way down.

The bad feeling was back again, as he removed the casing and grabbed the Hope Diamond, quickly scaling back up the cable again and out the way he had come in. It had been too easy, even by the Black Cats standards. Something was wrong, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it, as he had to meet up with the others back at their home base, before they would all make their way back to Japan to reunite with their families.

With that in mind, he took off back the way he came, to meet up with his comrades, and finally put their lives of crime behind them.

\------------

As he reached the home base, slipping in through the open window, he was greeted with an unfamiliar sight. It was  _ empty. _ He was starting to wonder if he had forgotten where he was going and ended up in the wrong place. His thoughts were interrupted by the front door bursting open, with Keita stumbling inside.

“Kirito, they knew! It was a trap! Get out of he-” Keita was cut off by two gunshots from behind him.

Kirito’s eyes widened as the man began to fall forward, now catching sight of the shooter standing in the open doorway. In his last act before collapsing to the floor, he reached out and gave Kirito a push back toward the open window.

“Hold it right there! Surrender or I’ll shoot!” the man in the doorway shouted out, but Kirito barely registered it, as he turned and jumped head first out the window.

His mind on autopilot, he managed to grab hold of a balcony railing on the opposite building. He scrambled to get away, as he desperately began to scale the building. He felt two more shots whizz past his head as he made it on to the roof.

Having no idea if anyone else in the Black Cats were still alive, or if they had all met the same fate as Keita, he just continued to run. They had arranged for a private plane to collect them and take them back to Japan after the job, so he decided to head there.

“ _ Sachi. Ducker. Anyone. Please let someone else be alright.”  _ he thought to himself as he continued.

\-------

He made it to the airfield a while later, having to stop to catch his breath. He spotted the plane in a hanger in the distance, and made his way over. 

As he got closer, he heard the sound of sirens getting louder. The plane began to move out of the hanger and toward him, stopping a few hundred yards away. The door popped open and an elderly man’s head popped out. “Come on, kid. They’re almost here, we  gotta go!” he called out, disappearing again.

Then he saw them, at least a dozen police cars were pulling into the airfield. He took off into a sprint again, running faster than he ever had before as he made a beeline for the plane. He reached it, clambering inside as the door was slammed shut behind him by the old man.

Barely even a minute later, and the plane was already airborne. “You the only one left?” the man asked as Kirito slumped down in one of the leather seats.

“I-I don’t even know.” Kirito replied, breathless and still trying to process everything that had happened that night.

The man kept opening and closing his mouth, as if trying to figure out what he could say. Eventually, he settled on just leaving the boy alone and heading into the cockpit to join the pilots.

Kirito’s brain finally caught up with him, and he placed his head in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably. He pulled the Hope Diamond out of his pocket and looked at it. “ _ Getting this was not worth sacrificing the lives of my comrades. My friends.”  _ Kirito thought to himself.

He furiously launched the Hope Diamond hit the side of the plane, and watched as it shattered into pieces, and fell to the floor.


End file.
